[inforoots] Lorenz/Colossus, was ENIGMA MACHINE TO BEREACTIVATED AFTER 60 YEARS

[Computer Collector Newsletter]

Van, I'm flattered that you enjoy CCN enough to forward it.   :)

Just to clarify: Mike Nadeau founded the original "Class Tech E-Letter" in
January 2001.  I became the editor in January 2004 and renamed it Computer
Collector Newsletter, among other changes.  Mike is my mentor, guru, senior
adviser, and Grand Poo-Bah of the Order of Nerds.

  - Evan K.

-----Original Message-----
From: inforoots-bounces at computerhistory.org
[mailto:inforoots-bounces at computerhistory.org] On Behalf Of Van Snyder
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 3:11 PM
To: Open Discussion about the history of the Information Age
Subject: RE: [inforoots] Lorenz/Colossus, was ENIGMA MACHINE TO
BEREACTIVATED AFTER 60 YEARS

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Here's an article from Michael Nadeau's <news at computercollector.com>
computer collector newsletter:

======================================================================
As the world remembers the 60th anniversary of V-E Day, it's fitting that we
in the computer collecting hobby remember the Enigma machines.  
Made infamous by the Axis countries, the electromechanical encryption
devices are still a vital part of the history of secure computing.

Many people don't realize, however, that German scientists did not actually
invent rotor-based encryption machines.  Who did invent them has been
controversial, but historians in recent years said two Dutch Navy officers
with backgrounds in torpedo design - Theo A. van Hengel and R.P.C. Spengler
- were the true co-inventors.  They began working on a device that likely
became the Enigma Model A "in the first few months of 1915" and had it
working "a few months later", or just about this time of year, 90 years ago.
For more, visit a university library and find Cryptologia, vol. 27, no. 1,
Jan. 2003, p. 73: "The Dutch Invention of the Rotor Machine, 1915-1923" by
Karl de Leeuw.

There is also a new book out, "The German Enigma Cipher Machine: 
Beginnings, Success, and Ultimate Failure", a collection of essays and
technical papers.  The publisher's description: "You get a comprehensive
view of the Enigma machine's development, uses, role in WWII Allied
intelligence, and cryptanalysis."  For more or to order, see
http://tinyurl.com/b9vyk -- we've request a review copy for CCN.  
(The book is edited by U.S. Military Academy Prof. Brian Winkel, who isn't a
collector, but who said that computers used in his career included an Ohio
Scientific 8-inch disk CPM machine with 8088 and 6502 chips, an Osborne I,
an Apple II, a TRS-80, an IBM-PC, and an IBM-XT.)

What if you want an Enigma for tinkering?  Unless you have several thousand
extra dollars, or a particularly lucky day on eBay, you can't get one.  You
can see real ones in museums, of course.  Instead, why not obtain a replica
kit?  There is an electric replica project at
http://www.enigma-replica.com/index1.html and a PBS "how it works" 
article at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/decoding/enigma.html ... or just
visit http://mckoss.com/Crypto/enigma.htm to download a free paper Engima
kit!  Mike Koss, the designer, will also send you a detailed instruction
booklet for $2, well worth it in my opinion.  
Still another excellent resource is the 1974 book "The Ultra Secret" 
by F.W. Winterbotham (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra).

(Next week, look for some history of other World War II-era computing
machines, and more...)

Evan Koblentz
========================================================================

-- 
Van Snyder                    |  What fraction of Americans believe 
Van.Snyder at jpl.nasa.gov       |  Wrestling is real and NASA is fake?
Any alleged opinions are my own and have not been approved or disapproved by
JPL, CalTech, NASA, Frederick Gregory, George Bush, or anybody else.

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